Army hushes up Afghanistan risks
The Swedish armed forces have hushed up the circumstances surrounding the November 8th firefight in Afghanistan involving Swedish troops. The Swedes were attacked with anti-tank weapons and were nearly killed, Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) reports.
The weapons used to attack the Swedish troops were more dangerous than first reported, a deliberate attempt to play down the risks faced by the Swedes in Afghanistan, according to the newspaper.
The armed forces state on their web-page that the Swedes were shot with small-bore weapons, but sources within the Swedish Afghanistan deployment force have revealed to SvD that in fact they were shot at with an RPG 7, an anti-tank weapon that the Swedish vehicles offer no protection against. But the shots did not hit their intended target.
The weapon is designed to penetrate armoured vehicles and there are a large number of them in Afghanistan, but they have hitherto not been used against Swedish troops.
According to SvD the soldiers involved in the firefight have been made complicit in hushing up the events of November 8th. The troops have been ordered not to speak to anyone outside the armed forces about the attack.
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The weapons used to attack the Swedish troops were more dangerous than first reported, a deliberate attempt to play down the risks faced by the Swedes in Afghanistan, according to the newspaper.
The armed forces state on their web-page that the Swedes were shot with small-bore weapons, but sources within the Swedish Afghanistan deployment force have revealed to SvD that in fact they were shot at with an RPG 7, an anti-tank weapon that the Swedish vehicles offer no protection against. But the shots did not hit their intended target.
The weapon is designed to penetrate armoured vehicles and there are a large number of them in Afghanistan, but they have hitherto not been used against Swedish troops.
According to SvD the soldiers involved in the firefight have been made complicit in hushing up the events of November 8th. The troops have been ordered not to speak to anyone outside the armed forces about the attack.
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